Halifax Junior Cash ISA paying 6%

opinions4u

So make an appointment before you travel would be my advice.

Always a tough one. In a perfect world, all customers would be seen on demand for whatever they want. But it isn't a perfect world - your expectations were higher than they should have been. It does make sense to make an appointment before you buy something from face to face from a bank.

Apparently although there were at least 6 staff in the branch and it was not busy, only one member of staff was "Trained" to do this, even the manager was not allowed to do it.

Not just trained. But authorised to a level required by their regulator the FSA. If the manager could "do this" it would add a whole new level of supervision to the organisation, which would mean more cost (and bigger losses for taxpayers, for example).

So you have a branch with a manager, a mortgage adviser, a financial adviser, a couple of cashiers and a banking adviser. There really is only one of those that can deal with you. And he/she would rightly prioritise those who have already booked appointments ahead of you.

Should they have more banking advisers? Perhaps. Do you think that's the fault of those present in the branch? Almost certainly not.

By the way, providers don't have to allow transfers in but do have to allow transfers out. These can be in line with the T&Cs of the specific product. I'd expect an easy access JISA to be transferred to a new provider within a couple of weeks.

chrisnw

There are other providers of cash JISA accounts happy to open these accounts by post, telephone or online in a matter of minutes, so why not the Halifax? While I accept that there may be some regulatory restrictions relating to personnel authorisations I believe from previous experience that the main reasons they put their customers through this process is that they want to try and sell other products on the back of investments. By the way I was not trying to "Buy" anything today, I was simply trying to invest some money for my daughter!

Are you telling me that if the one person in the branch that can open accounts is off sick they won't open any accounts that day? Surely any manager of a branch bank needs to be able to do any of the jobs in the branch.

What really annoyed me most was that if the web site had said "Appointment required" I would have phoned ahead.

Thanks for confirming what I thought was the case in respect of transfers in and out. What a shame that the details of this account in respect of transfers is nowhere to be found on the Halifax web site. Indeed what account details there were took some finding, I'm really not sure what Halifax think they are playing at with this one. If it turns out there is a transfer out restriction I will probably not use it. I guess I should have asked this morning but I was so irritated by their unhelpful attitude.

Your final point about transfer times is also a regular complaint of investors, why should it take more than 24 hours now we have finally managed to get the banks to implement "Faster payments" elsewhere.

danielinto

chrisnw wrote: »

By the way I was not trying to "Buy" anything today, I was simply trying to invest some money for my daughter!

In the financial world, that is buying a product. Banks are on the highstreet for one reason only and that is to sell you products, be it savings accounts, credit cards, insurance, etc.

They see it as products that they make a profit on, in the same way that Sainsbury's sells eggs for a profit.

chrisnw wrote: »

Are you telling me that if the one person in the branch that can open accounts is off sick they won't open any accounts that day? Surely any manager of a branch bank needs to be able to do any of the jobs in the branch.

There are different levels of training and FSA authorisation needed to sell different products. Some can be sold by any member of staff and for others you need to have obtained certain qualifications and also demonstrated competence in your area (debatable as to what shows competence)

The manager of the branch does not need to know how nor have authority to sell you all products on offer. In your example, his job would be to get a properly trained adviser to cover for the one off sick, usually by a transfer from a bigger branch.

scotsbob

chrisnw wrote: »

I believe from previous experience that the main reasons they put their customers through this process is that they want to try and sell other products on the back of investments.

You got that one spot on. I tried to open an ordinary cash ISA last year and what was a basic 2 minute form filling job was stretched to nearly 30 minutes with needless chat and attempts to sell me rubbish products.

Also makes me laugh the way they have rebranded salesmen as "advisers" :rotfl:

kalsha

anselld wrote: »

My daughter (17 year old) opened on of these last Friday, but it has not yet showed up on her online banking along with her other accounts. Does anyone know if it should be viewable online or not and if so how long before it comes visible?

Anselld, you opened one for your 17yr old - did you have one SA with them yourself? Mine is 16.5yrs and till now I have been thinking that I need an ISA myself for the 6% to apply otherwise she will get 3%. Rereading the terms and conditions on their website, I think that if she is over 16, she will get 6% if I don't have an ISA with them. Can you confirm that please?

anselld

kalsha wrote: »

Anselld, you opened one for your 17yr old - did you have one SA with them yourself? Mine is 16.5yrs and till now I have been thinking that I need an ISA myself for the 6% to apply otherwise she will get 3%. Rereading the terms and conditions on their website, I think that if she is over 16, she will get 6% if I don't have an ISA with them. Can you confirm that please?

That is correct, over 16 they get 6% in their own right.
The account still hasnt shown up online though so I will have to send her in to find out whats happened to it. You would think it is either passbook or on line and there was certainly no passbook.

kalsha

anselld wrote: »

That is correct, over 16 they get 6% in their own right.
The account still hasnt shown up online though so I will have to send her in to find out whats happened to it. You would think it is either passbook or on line and there was certainly no passbook.

Thanks for confirming that. I had gone into the branch on Friday and the lady said that I don't need an account and I wasn't sure whether to believe her! I was also told that my daughter needs to go in with her passport and NIC number and some sort of proof of address. It is not something that they would do striaght away - have to make an appointment to open the account. They are so busy and have no appointments for after school times. Got one for a fortnight's time.

chrisnw

kalsha wrote: »

They are so busy and have no appointments for after school times. Got one for a fortnight's time.

I hope you will ask them to back date the interest to the date you wanted to make the investment!

kalsha

chrisnw wrote: »

I hope you will ask them to back date the interest to the date you wanted to make the investment!

Would they really do that? I would never have thought of asking!

kalsha

Can someone help me - I am getting mixed messages. At first I thought that for a 16+yr old to get 6%, the adult needs to have an ISA with Halifax. So I applied for one online. Then on Friday I visited the branch to confirm that and make appointment. The cashier made me wait over half an hour and she went to check with whoever upstairs and told me that as my daughter was over 16, she will get 6% automatically without an adult having an ISA. I made the appointment and cancelled my application for my ISA with Halifax (and got one with another bank). Now I have just got a call saying that she will get 3% as I don't have an ISA with them. After all that on Friday and I have cancelled mine with Halifax!!!! I have rung the helpline but they say they are not help me on the phone - I have to go to the branch! Has anyone got the Junior ISA at 6% without the adult having one? If so which branch was it? Any advice what I should do?